Apparatus for applying fillers to floors.



No. 699,307. Patenteu May s, 1902. w. H. GRIPPIN.

PPRATUS FOR PPLYING FILLERS TO FLOORS.

(Application flled Aug. 28, 1901.)

lo Model.)

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XVILLIAM H; GRIPPIN, OF NEXVARK, NEXTV YORK.

PPRATUS FOR APPLYING FILLERS `TO FLOORS.

SPECFATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,307, dated May 6, 1902.

Application filed August 28, 1901. Serial No. 73.586. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM II. GRIPPIN, of Newark, in the county of WVayne and State of New York, have invented a new and usefnl Improvement in Devices for Applying Fillers, which iinprovement is fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the ac companying drawings.

My invention is a device for conveniently applying fillers in a semifluid state to floors or other surfaces, the invention being hereinafter fully described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l isaside elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is an end ele,- vation seen as indicated by arrow in Fig. 1, a part of the body being broken away. Fig. 8 is a plan of the device. Fig. 4 is a side elevation seetioned as on the dotted line-4 4 in Fig. 3, parts being shown in two positions by full and dotted lines. Fig. 5 is avertical cross-section of the body, taken as on the dotted line 5 in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vertical crosssection of the body,taken as on the dotted line 8 6 in Fig. 4, drawn to further show the form of the rub-board. Fig. 7 is a Vertical crosssection of the body as on the dotted line 7 7 in Fig. 4, further showing the form of the forward cleaner. Fig. 8 is a face view of the rub-board seen as indicated by arrow 8 in Fig. 4.

A in the drawings is the body of the device, it being hollow, bottomless, and rectangular or box shape in form and preferably made of sheet metal. The interior of the body is divided into a forward apartment B and a rear apartment O by a transverse inclined partition a, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, extending from side to side of the body. Within the forward apartment B is placed transversely a metal rubboard b, Figs.A 3, 4, and G, adapted to turn on a horizontal transverse axis c, having bearings in the sides of the body A, the ends of said board being adjacent to the respective inner surfaces of the side walls of the body. In said apartment B is also placed a transverse cleaner (Z, Figs. 3, 4, and 7, adapted to rest upon the floor and to turn on a horizontal aXis e, resting in the side walls of the body A. In the rear apartment O of the body is placed a similar cleaner f, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, in position to meet the floor and arranged to turn on a horizontal axis g, with bearings in the side walls of the body. The cleaners df, like lthe rub-board Z), extend from side to side of the body within, and they are hung in such manner that both tend by gravity to meet and press the floor D, as shown in Fig. 4.

The device is provided with an Operating and propelling handle h, by means of which the body, which rests upon the floor, is moved hither and thither over the fioor by hand in the act of applying the filler, which in a semifluid state is placed in the apartment B in contact with the floor. The handle is connected rigidly With the rub-board Z), near its axis,and inclines backward, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, convenient to the hand of the operator. This construction furni'shes a convenient means for the operator to `use the device upon the floor, besides enabling him to readily tilt the rub-board as the device is moved in a backward direction in going over the fioor.

The part of the rub-board below the axis e inclines sharply backward, as shown in Fig. 4, so that it tends normally to press the filler hard downward against the fioor. This causes the substance to enter the cracks and other crevices in the fioor and fill the same and also the grain of the wood. I likewise prefer to form the front or inclined Operating-face of the rub-board with horizontal corrugations i to roughen said face or make it uneven. Thus formed it better holds the filler downward against the floor and tends to prevent the filler from escaping npward along the face of the rub-board when in action. The lower bedge of the rub-board does not touch the floor, but is held slightly apart therefrom by stops r, as shown in Fig. 4, to admit a thin layer of the filler beneath it.

The lower part 70 of the partition a is bent sharply forward, as appears in Fig. 4, its extreme lower edge meeting the floor D adjacent to the lower edge of the rub-board when the latter is in its normalpositon. Also, being sharply slanted at the lower edge, as stated, it tends when the device is moved backward to press such of the filler as escapes under it hard onto the floor in the same manner that the rub-board does when the device is moved forward. This part k of the partition is curved concentric with the axis b of IOC ward upon the handle.

the rub-board and relatively so placed that When the latter is turned on its axis by means of the handle h, as shown by dotted lines. in Fig. 4, its lower edge just clears the adjacent face of said part k. On account of this nearness of the edge of the rub-board with the surface of the part lo the filler is substantially prevented from escaping back of the rubboard When the latter is tilted, as stated, the filler being pressed forward by the action of the rub-board When the handle h is pressed downward in propelling the device forward- The forward and rear cleaners d f are usually formed of metal parts or sheetsln, bent to form and holding strips o p of yielding material, as leather. The manner of Suspending these cleaners is such that the leather strips are held by gravity constantly in contact With the floor, serving to wipe up any surplus filler that may at any time escape the rub-board. In moving the device about the floor there Will at times small quantities of the filler escape the partition a, and so enter the apartment C, this occurring more particularly when the surface of the fiooris Very rough or uneven; but the device is so constructed that the escaped filler caught in said apartment O will be acted upo'n--by the part k of the partition and the rear cleaner f as the rub-board and the forward cleaner cl act on the mass in the forward apartment B.

VIn using this device it is ordinarily moved forward and backward by the operator in a manner similar to that in which an ordinary mop is moved, and the tendency when pulling the device backward by the handle is to slightly raise the latter, while in pushing the device forward the tendency is to press down- These natural tendencies of the hand are important in the action of this device, for when the latter is pushed forward the depressing of the handle holds the rub-board near the floor, while in drawing it back the lifting of the handle turns the lower edge of the rub-board upward, and so facilitates the flowing inward of the filler ready for the next forward movement of the device.

lVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A device for applying fillers to fioors, comprising a hollowbottomless case or body for receiving the filling material, a transverse movable rub-board in the body, and means to operate the rub-board and to propel the device by hand, substantially as shown and described.

2. A device for applying fillers to floors, comprising a hollow bottomless body for receiving the filling material to move upon the floor, a transverse pivoted rub-board in the body, inclined to the floor, and a propellinghandle Secured to the rub-board, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A device for applying fillers to floors, comprising a hollow bottomless body for receiviug the filling material, a transverse inclined rub-board resting in bearings in the body and formed with horizontal corrugations, and an Operating-handle secured to the rub-board to turn it upon its bearings, and to propel the device, substantially as shown and described.

4. A device for applying fillers to fioors, comprising a hollow bottomless body for receiving the filling material, a transverse partition dividing the space in the body into forward and rear apartments, a rub-board and a cleaner in the forward apartment, and a cleaner in the rear apartment, with means to operate the device, substantially as shown and described.

5. A device for applying fillers to floors, having a hollow bottomless body for receiving the filling material, a partition dividing the space in the body, a rub-board adapted to turn upon an axis in the body, an operating-handle Secured to the rub-board, the partition having a curved part adjacent'to the lower edge of the rub-board and concentric With the axis of the rub-board, and cleaners in the body, substantially as shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 23d day of August, 1901, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. VVILLIAM II. GRIPPH VVitnesses:

ELMER E. BURLEIGII, M. II. RIoi-IMOND. 

